Skip the store bought frozen fries and make healthy AND crispy homemade french fries from potatoes in your air fryer or in your oven! Or meal prep a bunch and freeze for easy fries any night of the week!
French Fries are my kryptonite.
I mean, they might be the most perfect food ever, right?
- They go with pretty much everything: Burgers…chicken…steak…ice cream. Omg, eggs. They are also amazing all by themselves.
- You can basically dip them in anything you want and they are still so freaking good.
- You can also top them with basically anything and they will still be delicious.
Fries rule. 
We love fries so much here, we make them at least once a week. So it’s about time that I shared this Homemade French Fry recipe with you all. They are easy, delicious, and actually a healthy side dish option for the 21 Day Fix!
Love potatoes? You have to try these Parmesan Roasted Baby Potatoes.
How to Make French Fries from Potatoes
You only need three ingredients to make fries:
- Potatoes – I prefer to use russet potatoes, but I will use whatever we have on hand.
- Salt – a fine salt will stick to your fries better than a coarse salt. You can add any other seasoning you would like!
- Olive oil – I use olive or avocado oil in a sprayer like this one. You could also toss your fries in oil, but I find that spraying the potatoes instead keeps the fries crispier.
How to Cut French Fries
You don’t need any fancy equipment to your fries, although if you happen to have a mandoline this is a great time to use it. This is how to cut potatoes into fries using just a good knife:
- Wash and peel potatoes, then dry so they are easier to handle. You can keep the peel on if that’s your thing!
- Slice each potato in half the long way, lay the cut side flat on the cutting surface and cut into 1/4-inch slices. Stack these slices and cut them into the same width sticks to make matchstick french fries. Repeat with the remaining potatoes.
After slicing, soak or par boil your french fries
Before baking or air frying your fries, it’s important to soak your potatoes. Soaking removes some of the starch, which means crispier fries. Soak the cut potatoes in a bowl of cold water for 20 minutes.
Alternatively, you can boil the potatoes for 5 minutes which will result in even crispier fries, but if you need a more hands off approach, you can just do the soak method and you will be good to go!
It’s really important to dry your fries very well before baking or air frying! I use a clean kitchen towel or paper towels. A dry fry is a crispy fry!
Baked French Fries in the Oven
These baked fries will be super crispy, even in the oven! Here are some tips for getting it right:
- Cook at a high temp! I recommend 450, and if you have a convection setting, use that. **Note, my old oven used to smoke at 450, so I had to cook them at 425. It took a little longer for them to cook.
- Line your sheet pan with parchment paper to avoid your fries sticking.
- Spread your fries into a nice, even layer. Don’t crowd them, as they will end up steaming instead of crisping.
- Spray your fries liberally using an olive oil sprayer, then season with fine salt and whatever other seasonings you like.
- Bake on 450 for 20 minutes, then flip and finish cooking for about 10 minutes.
How to Make French Fries in the Air Fryer
- Preheat your Air Fryer to 390/400 – My Phillips Air Fryer maxes out at 390 and that works fine.
- Just like oven baked fries, I spray well with olive oil spray, then season fries liberally with salt – I like a fine salt because it sticks better.
- Cook in small batches on 390/400 for 14-16 minutes, flipping or or shaking them halfway through.
- In order to keep the cooked fries crispy, lay them on wire cooling racks after cooking. You could also crisp them up again quick after all your fries are done by Air Frying them for a minute or two.
Related – looking for an Air Fryer? Check out this post to find out which Air Fryer is Right for You.
Can I prep these Fries ahead of time and freeze?
Guys. YES. This is game changing information here, so buckle up! You can 100% prep a BIG batch of these fries and freeze them to pull out whenever you have a fry craving or need a quick side!
Here’s how you do it:
- Wash and slice your fries as shown above.
- Fill a large pot with water, add 1/4 tsp of salt, and bring to a boil. Add in sliced potatoes and boil for 5 minutes. Drain and place potatoes on baking sheets lined with paper towels.
- Let cool, then place fries in ziplock or Stasher bags.
- When you are ready to make your frozen fries, just remove them from the ziplock bag and cook from frozen using your favorite method, but cutting the cook time down by half or until your fries are crispy!
Are these Baked Fries Healthy?
Yes! I feel like fries and potatoes in general get a bad rap, but they are, in fact, a healthy choice as long as you eat the proper portion. Potatoes contain fiber, potassium, vitamin C, and vitamin B6 and when they are prepared this way, they are an excellent carb based side dish.
For the 21 Day Fix, potatoes are a yellow container food and half of a large russet potato is 1 yellow.
How do I reheat leftover fries?
We never, ever have leftover fries…my kids and husband always fight over the last few. But if we did, I would reheat them either in the oven on 400 degrees for a few minutes or until crispy, or in the Air Fryer on 390, again, until crispy.
What are some Fix approved Condiments for Fries?
I love dipping fries in some good old ketchup. I look for clean ingredients and count each tablespoon as one of my daily sweetener teaspoons. Or you can make this super yummy Healthy Homemade Ketchup from The Foodie and The Fix.
I also love to dip fries in Burger Sauce, Blue Cheese, Ranch Dressing, and BBQ Sauce. 
Homemade French Fries
Ingredients
- 4 russet potatoes
- Avocado or olive oil
- Fine salt
Instructions
- Wash and peel potatoes, then dry so they are easier to handle.
- Slice each potato in half the long way, lay the cut side flat on the cutting surface and cut into 1/2-inch to 1/4-inch slices. Stack these slices and cut them into the same width sticks to make french fries. Repeat with the remaining potatoes.
- Put the cut potatoes in a large bowl and cover with cool water. Soak for at least 20 minutes or up to an hour. This step gets rid of excess starch, resulting in fluffier and crispier fries. Alternatively, you can place fries in a pot. Cover with cold water and add about 1 tsp salt. Bring the potatoes to a boil for 5 minutes. Drain the water. If I am short on time, I skip these steps and the fries are just a little less crispy. No big deal.
- Drain and dry potatoes really well. Sometimes I use a salad spinner, but I always use thick paper towels or clean kitchen towels and really wipe them down. A dry fry is a crispy fry!
- Place fries on a parchment lined baking sheet or in the basket of your air fryer. Instead of coating my fries with olive oil, I prefer to use an olive oil sprayer so the oil doesn’t weigh the fries down. Spray fries well with olive oil spray, then season fries liberally with salt - I like a fine salt because it sticks better.
- Air Fryer: Cook in small batches on 390/400 for 14-16 minutes, flipping or or shaking them halfway through.
- Oven: bake on 450 for 20 minutes, then flip and finish cooking for about 10 minutes.
- Enjoy with your favorite dipping sauce!
To Prep and Freeze:
- Wash and slice your fries as shown above.
- Fill a large pot with water, add 1/4 tsp of salt, and bring to a boil. Add in sliced potatoes and boil for 5 minutes. Drain and place potatoes on baking sheets lined with paper towels.
- Let cool, then place fries in ziplock or stasher bags.
- When you are ready to make your frozen fries, just remove them from the ziplock bag and cook from frozen using your favorite method, but cutting the cook time down by half or until your fries are crispy!
Sabrina says
Would you change anything in the recipe if you’re making sweet potato fries?
Nancylynn says
Sweet potato fries are on my list to perfect, but you can def use this recipe as a guide! You can skip the soaking/parboiling step for sweet potato fries, but everything else should work!